From Competence Curriculum Design to Assessment and Certification of Achievement: two empirical models for TEFL

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From Competence Curriculum Design to Assessment and

Certification of Achievement: two empirical models for TEFL

DaviDe CapperuCCi

Ricercatore di Pedagogia sperimentale – Università degli Studi di Firenze Corresponding author: davide.capperucci@unifi.it

Abstract. Both the national and international literature identifies the development of design and assessment competences as a fundamental component in the professionalization of primary school teachers. This paper considers theoretical and methodological aspects of EFL curriculum design as it is addressed in Italy. Two empirical models are discussed: (i) a competence design model called the CUD Mod., based on the ‘competence unit’, and (ii) a model for achievement assessment and certification called ARCA. Both models were tested in action-research projects carried out in first-cycle schools in Tuscany. The contribution reflects on the experience which might also benefit other school contexts.

Keywords. instructional design, achievement assessment, TEFL, teacher’s profile, com-petences

1. Introduction

Today in school design and learning assessment competences are key elements in a tea-cher’s professional profile. even before being implemented, a good educational path needs to be thought out and carefully planned by reviewing the many variables (contextual, educatio-nal, organizatioeducatio-nal, emotioeducatio-nal, relatioeducatio-nal, etc.) that accompany the teaching-learning process and the teacher-pupil educational relationship.After outlining a possible profile of a teacher’s design and assessment competences, according to the national and international literature, the present chapter proposes two empirical models: 1) a competence design model called the CUD Mod., presented here as a functioning model to design the competence curriculum in primary schools and develop an EFL teacher’s competences for design; 2) a methodologi-cal model for achievement assessment and certification methodologi-called the ARCA Model, applicable within the Italian school system and valid for the majority of European school systems. 2. Design competences of teacher’s professional profile

Improving the quality of a pupil’s learning can only be pursued by investing in empowering a teacher’s vocational skills1_{. In fact, the ongoing review of teachers’}

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148 Davide Capperucci

sional competences, are aspects that are recognized internationally by the OECD2_,

UNE-SCO3_{, the European Union}4_{and other research organizations}5_{as a priority not only to}

raise the quality of education systems in various countries but also to increase Europe’s competitiveness. The quality of teaching and teacher professionalism are now recognized as strategic factors both for education and social growth policies. Moreover, within the range of competences that a teacher should manage, design plays a fundamental role in guiding instructional action in an intentional, systematic, and thoughtful way.

School design requires the activation of intellectual, operational, relational, and technical resources in order to put into effect a specific vision of the world and human beings. It always implies being referred to an objective. For this, it needs to be adapted to specific learning situations, checking to what extent it can change, and improve the existing reality. Designing means, first of all, to start from an analysis of the existing to head towards the future, towards the identification of concrete transforming paths of reality able to support a perspective oriented toward continuous improvement6_.

Within schools, two features properly characterize the design: a conceptual, creative, and constructive perspective, on the one hand, and control, guidance, monitoring, and evaluation, on the other. In the first case, through a bottom-up approach possible lines of action oriented to problem solving or need satisfaction are conceived. In the second case, the design allows the ‘controllability’ of the learning processes and teaching products. This increases the effec-tiveness and efficiency levels of instructional activities, intervening, even during construction, on the redefinition of objectives, strategies, methods, and means to achieve the final result. Design flexibility plays a very important role in the success of instructional activity7_.

In schools, there are different levels of design. We can speak of a macro design level, which involves the entire school staff of the institution, such as the planning of the edu-European Parliament, Improving the Quality of Teacher Education, COM (2007) 392 final, in: http://www.cde-pc.it/documenti/20070803COM_2007_392.pdf (last viewed 03/07/2018).

2 _{OECD, Creating effective teaching and learning environments, Paris, OECD Publishing, 2009, in: http://www.oecd.org/} education/school/43023606.pdf (05/07/2018); Id., Teaching practices and pedagogical innovation: evidence from TALIS, Paris, OECD Publishing, 2012, in: http://www.oecd.org/education/school/TalisCeri%202012%20(tppi)--Ebook.pdf (last viewed 28/06/2018); Id., Synergies for better learning. An international perspective on evaluation and assessment, Paris, OECD Publishing, 2013a, in: http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/education/synergies-for-better-learning-an-international-perspective-on-evaluation-and-assessment_9789264190658-en#page9 (last viewed 30/06/2018); Id., Teacher for the 21st_{century. Using evaluation to improve teaching, Paris, OECD Publishing, 2013b, in:} http://www.oecd.org/site/eduistp13/TS2013%20Background%20Report.pdf (last viewed 30/06/2018).

3 _{UNESCO, Unesco strategy on teachers (2012-2015), 2012 in: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/} images/0021/002177/217775E.pdf (last viewed 30/06/2018); Id., Teachers and educational quality: Monitoring Global Needs for 2015, 2015, in: http://www.uis.unesco.org/Library/Documents/teachers06-en.pdf (last viewed 30/09/2015). 4 _{Commission of the European Communities, Europe 2020. A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive} growth, 2010, in: http://ec.europa.eu/eu2020/pdf/COMPLET%20EN%20BARROSO%20%20%20007%20-%20 Europe%202020%20-%20EN%20version.pdf (last viewed 04/07/2018); Id., Key Data on Education in Europe 2012, Brussels, Eurydice, 2012.

5 _{RAND Education, 2015, in:} http://www.rand.org/education/projects/measuring-teacher-effectiveness/value-added-modeling.html (last viewed 30/06/2018); MET Project, Ensuring fair and reliable measures of effective teaching, 2013, in: http://www.metproject.org/downloads/MET_Ensuring_Fair_and_Reliable_Measures_ Practitioner_Brief.pdf (last viewed 30/06/2018).

6 _{C. M. Reigeluth (ed.), Instructional design theories and models: An overview of their current status, New} York, Routledge, 2013; W. J. Rothwell, H. C. Kazanas, Mastering the instructional design process: A systematic approach, London, UK, John Wiley & Sons, 2011.

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DOI: 10.13128/Studi_Formaz-25562 | ISSN 2036-6981 (online)

cational offer, the structure of the school’s curriculum, the definition of improvement plans extended to the whole school; and of a micro level, which concerns the individual teacher or at least the teaching team, with respect to preparatory teaching works to car-ry out in instructional teaching modules, units, project work, etc. In both cases, design is always ‘contextualized’ and ‘intentional’. Even when it starts just from a ‘creative and undefined idea’, it must later be transformed into systematic actions, behaviors that have their own significance as applicable to a real context. Design therefore cannot be a spon-taneous activity, but the result of well thought-out and rational work expressed by the community of teachers8_.

Thinking of the instruction as an intentional act requires the adoption of a rigorous methodology, punctuated by phases, in order to predict beforehand the direction to fol-low to be able to implement it, if necessary. These phases that, in practice, are not regula-ted by a sequential logic, provide: 1. needs analysis, 2. goal setting, 3. general structure of the contents, 4. teaching strategies and techniques, and 5. learning assessment. To each phase of the design cycle, specific competences related to teachers’ professional profile can be associated (Table 1). Pedagogical literature9_{, the works produced by the European}

Union10_{and those developed by the Ministries of education in different countries around}

the world11_{have provided various interpretative models of a teacher’s professional profile,}

8 _{J. McTighe, G. Wiggins, Understanding by design. Professional development workbook, Alexandria (VA),} Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), 2004; W. F. Pinar, International handbook

of curriculum research, New York, Routledge, 2013.

9 _J._{White (ed.), Rethinking the school curriculum: Values, aims and purposes, New York, Routledge, 2003;}

P. Perrenoud, Développer la pratique réflexive dans le métier d’enseignant: professionnalisation et raison

pédagogique, Paris, ESF éditeur, 2010; C. Danielson, Evaluations that help teachers learn, in «Educational Leadership», 68(4), 2011, pp. 35-39; C. Danielson, T. L. McGreal, Teacher evaluation to enhance professional learning, Princeton (NJ), Educational Testing Service, 2000; C. Kyriacou, Essential teaching skills, London, Stanley Thornes, 2007; V. Midoro, A Common European Framework for Teachers’ professional proﬁle in ICT for Education, Ortona, Menab, 2005; E. Morin, La testa ben fatta. Riﬁrma dell’insegnamento e riforma

delpensiero, Milano, Raffaello Cortina, 2000; M. Cochran-Smith, K. M. Zeichner (eds.), Studying teacher

education: The report of the AERA panel on research and teacher education, Mahwah (NJ), Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2010; T. Toch, R. Rothman, Rush to Judgment: Teacher Evaluation in Public Education, Washington DC, Sector, 2008; G. Bandini, A. Calvani, E. Falaschi, L. Menichetti, The professional proﬁle of

the teacher trainees in the Course of Primary Education. The SPPPI Model, in «Formazione Persona Lavoro»,

15, 2015, pp. 89-104; C. E. Feistritzer, S. Griffin, A. Linnajarvi, Proﬁle of teachers in the US, 2011, Washington,

(DC), National Center for Education Information, 2011; D. Capperucci, M. Piccioli, L’insegnante di scuola

primaria. Identità, competenze e proﬁlo professionale, Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2015.

10 _{Commission of the European Communities, The Teaching Profession in Europe: Profile, Trends and} Concerns, Report IV. Keeping Teaching Attractive for the 21th Century. General Lower Secondary Education, Brussels, Eurydice, 2004; Id., The Teaching Profession in Europe: Profile: Trends and Concerns, Report V. Reform of Teaching Professions: A Historical Survey. General Lower Secondary Education, Brussels, Eurydice, 2005; Id., Literature review. Teachers’ core competences: requirements and development, 2011, in: http:// ec.europa.eu/education/policy/strategic-framework/doc/teacher-competences_en.pdf (last viewed 30/06/2018). 11 _{Ministère de l’Éducation nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche, Formation des} enseignants. Référentiel des competences professionnelles des métiers du professorat et de l’éducation, in: http://www.education.gouv.fr/pid25535/bulletin_officiel.html?cid_bo=73066, 2013, (last viewed 30/07/2018); Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione, Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze, Quaderno bianco sulla scuola, Roma, 2007; Ministry of Education and Science, The White Paper for the Reform of Education Systems, (English Version), Madrid, 1990; Gouvernement du Québec Ministère de l’Éducation, La formation à l’enseignement. Les orientation. Les competences professionnelles, (2001); General Teaching Council for England, Professional Standard for Qualified Teacher Status and Requirements for Iniatial Teachter Training, in: http://www.tda.gov.uk, 2006 (last viewed 23/07/2018); Training and Development Agency for Schools

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with each stressing the importance of design competences as a distinctive feature of a teacher’s work.

For a detailed analysis of the competences related to each phase of school design, see Table 1.

3. EFL curriculum design in Primary School

The development of design competences is also a key activity in teaching English as a foreign language in primary school, as evidenced in the many studies conducted in Europe and other parts of the world12_.

As provided by the Italian school legislation, such design competences must respect the provisions reported in the National Curriculum Guidelines published by the Ministry of Education, Universities, and Research in 201213_{. The latter represent the national}

cur-riculum that all Italian schools of the first cycle are called upon to implement and there-fore are a constant reference point for instructional design.

In order to provide common guidelines to support a teacher’s work, the National Curriculum Guidelines have clearly defined two aspects, which will be detailed in the fol-lowing sections:

1. purposes and epistemological foundations of teaching English in primary school; 2. identification of specific competences, knowledge, and skills to be pursued over the five years of compulsory English language teaching in primary school.

(TDA), Professional Standards for Teachers. Advanced Skills Teacher, TDA, London, in: http://www.tda.gov.uk/ cpd-leader/standards-qualifications/professional-standards-guidance/~/media/resources/teacher/professional-standards/advancedskills.pdf, 2007 (last viewed 29/06/2018); Id., Professional Standards for Qualiﬁed Teacher Status and Requirement for Initial Teacher Training, TDA, London, 2008, in: http://www.tda.gov.uk/teacher/ developing-career/professional-standards-guidance.aspx. (last viewed 24/06/2018); Department for Education and Skills, Qualifying to teach. Professional Standards for Qualiﬁed Teacher Status and Requirements for Initial Teacher Training, London, 2002; Id., Performance Management for Teachers and Head Teachers, DFES, London, in: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/_doc/10405/PM%20Guidance%20print%20final%20Nov%2006. pdf 2006, (last viewed 23/07/2018); OECD, Teachers Matter: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers in Spain. Overview for the OECD, OECD Publishing, Paris, 2003; Unità italiana di Eurydice, Sistemi di valutazione dell’istruzione in Europa. Alcuni paesi a confronto, in: http://www.indire.it/lucabas/lkmw_file/ eurydice///bollettino_eurydice_valutazione_2012_per_web.pdf, 2012 (last viewed 05/07/2018); US Department of Education, World Class Standards for American Education, PERI, Washington D.C., 1992.

12 _M._{Grenfell, M. Kelly, D. Jones, The European Language Teacher: Recent Trends and Future Developments}

in Teacher Education, New York, Peter Lang Publishing, 2003; M. Kelly, M. Grenfell, R. Allan, C. Kriza, W.

McEvoy, European proﬁle for language teacher education: A frame of reference, European Commission, 2004. 13 _{MIUR, Indicazioni Nazionali per il curricolo della scuola dell’infanzia e del primo ciclo}_{, in «}_Annali dell’Istruzione», numero speciale, Le Monnier, 2012.

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4 Competence

areas Competence descriptors

1. Nee ds an aly sis

1.1. Understand and recognize the roles and purposes of various national, regional, and local institutions (Ministries, local authorities, associations, cultural institutions, etc.)

1.2. Actively participate in the construction of policies and strategies for training needs identification of school populations, context, and authorities

1.3. Design and submit qualitative and quantitative instruments for training needs identification of the school population, context, and authorities (censuses, statistical surveys, questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, etc.).

1.4. Analyze and interpret the data of local surveys conducted by the school to collect information on the pupils’ and the teachers’ needs

1.5. Participate constructively on committees and in working groups for planning training programs at a macro level (school, institutional networks, etc.) and a micro level (single class, groups of pupils, groups of families, etc.) defined in response to the training needs identified

1.6. Communicate and document the actions taken on the basis of educational needs

1.7. Verify and monitor, through the use of specific devices (paper, ICT, etc.) the families’ and pupils’ satisfaction, from the perspective of self-evaluation and school improvement 2. G oa l s et tin g

2.1. Participate in the construction of a school vision and mission through participation in school governance bodies

2.2. Participate in building school organizational and educational policies through the participation in collegial and decision-making school bodies

2.3. Identify and share with other teachers and the school’s management priorities based on the weaknesses identified as a result of self-evaluation or external evaluation procedures

2.4. Define the aims of the school’s training offer by involving the pupils' families, training agencies, and local institutions

2.5. Identify key competences to be promoted through the school curriculum

2.6. Recognize connections between the competences required by the national curriculum and key competences to be promoted through the school curriculum

2.7. Recognize competences common to the various kinds and grades of schooling to design a vertical curriculum based on education continuity

2.8. Establish connections and links between the key competences to be promoted through the curriculum and cognitive objectives of different subjects

2.9. Share cross-curricular contents with other teachers in order to build inter-multi-trasdisciplinary connections

2.10. Organize different learning objectives in taxonomies in order to respect a hierarchical structure 3. S truc tur e of c ont ent s

3.1. Recognize the elements characterizing the epistemological status of each subject

3.2. Identify the concepts and basic contents of different subjects

3.3. Organize and categorize the concepts and contents of different subjects in order to develop a shared hierarchical structure

3.4. Recognize and propose multiple ways of organizing a pupil's knowledge in different subjects (sequential, hierarchical, networking, etc.)

3.5. Identify interdisciplinary connections between the contents of different subjects

3.6. Be aware of the prerequisites that children must have to deal with a particular content or activity

3.7. Be able to manage knowledge contents of different subjects

3.8. Adapt content complexity to pupils’ age, as well as pupils’ cognitive and socio-relational abilities

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5 3.9. Be able to explain to the pupils’ families the educational function of contents covered

3.10. Adapt the objectives and teaching contents to personalized pupil learning plans, particularly for those with special needs (differently abled children, children with learning difficulties, children from other countries, refugees, etc.).

4. Tea ch in g s trateg ies an d tech niq ues

4.1. Use different strategies and teaching techniques (lectures, exercises, simulations, cooperative learning activities, etc.) according to the objectives and competences to be pursued

4.2. Manage different teaching methods (transmissive, deductive, inductive, cooperative, heuristic, etc.).

4.3. Select educational activities consistent with the methodological approaches chosen

4.4. Manage and lead classroom activities (organization, relations, rules and instructional procedures)

4.5. Conduct educational activities conveying to the children what the goals are and recalling prior learning and knowledge

4.6. Manage teaching times and spaces

4.7. Select appropriate materials and tools for educational goal achievement 4.8. Create an engaging environment taking into account individual, cultural, social, and religious differences in the classroom

4.9. Use clear and expressive language, modulating voice tone and rhythm

4.10. Integrate facial expressions, gestures, and body communication with oral communication using various media

4.11. Teach with ICT to differentiate instruction aimed at individual pupils, small groups, or large learning groups

4.12. Calibrate alternating transmissive/informative sessions with operative/experiential activities, workshops, or writing (individually, in pairs, in small groups)

4.13. Manage learning groups with inclusive attitudes, enabling positive and constructive interactions

4.14. Adapt information, simplifying or changing the communication channel (with analogies, graphic tools, physical gestures, multimedia assets), specially in the presence of children with disabilities, learning difficulties, ADHD, etc.

4.15. Constantly inform children about how they are progressing in learning (feedback), helping them to improve their performance

4.16. Provide adequate reinforcement and encouragement

4.17. Promote a problem solving attitude, stimulating children to work out hypotheses and solutions

4.18. Focus on the main points of an instructional activity, recalling the main concepts

4.19. Prevent and intervene constructively in cases of bullying, discrimination, homophobic attitudes, etc.

5. L ea rni ng a ss es sm ent

5.1. Know and manage different approaches and techniques of learning and assessment

5.2. Use different assessment tools based on multiple evaluation functions (diagnostic, formative, summative)

5.3. Build valid and reliable learning measurement and assessment tools in relation to the objectives and competences to be developed

5.4. Use different observation and assessment tools (standardized, authentic, etc.) 5.5. Read and use information on the pupils’ learning using national and international standardized tests (PIRLS, TIMSS, PISA, etc.).

5.6. Use information from different types of assessment tests to design recovery and enhancement activities

5.7. Check the consistency between objectives, assessment tools, and instructional activities

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6 5.8. Adopt methodological models for the pupils' achievement certification

5.9. Inform parents of the pupils’ learning processes and products 5.10. Use tools for school self-evaluation

5.11. Use different information sources to collect data on context, resources, processes, and products for school self-evaluation reports

5.12. Use information from school self-evaluation reports to design future improvement plans

5.13. Account for results achieved after the implementation of long-term improvement plans

5.14. Revise its own teaching experience through the use of specific tools (journals, peer-review, portfolios, microteaching, video-recordings, external evaluations) to identify strengths and weaknesses

5.15 Identify weaknesses and shortcomings in instructional design and teaching, in order to re-design education

5.16 Have a positive attitude towards continuous improvement of professional competences, using internal/external tools, e.g., monitoring, in-service training, and self-training

5.17. Document teaching with consistency and clarity, using appropriate tools (papers, reports, diaries, etc.).

Table 1 – Design competences of teacher’s professional profile

3.1 TEFL purposes and epistemological foundations

As for the cultural framework of teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL), some general guiding criteria to guarantee the unity and equity of the education system as well as to support teachers’ work are identified in the National Curriculum Guidelines. In addition to the mother language, the National Curriculum Guidelines assign two spe-cific purposes to English learning: emphasizing the formative value of teaching English in primary schools

1. the development of multilingual and multicultural competences within a com-plex, multi-ethnic and globalized society;

2. the acquisition of the first tools for practice an active citizenship in the context of where a pupil lives and even beyond the borders of the national territory. According to the achievement of the objectives mentioned above, some guiding cri-teria gathered from the National Curriculum Guidelines are proposed here.

1. Competences in foreign languages and European citizenship. Thanks to the meeting with other European languages, a pupil can expand awareness of European citizenship. Consequently possessing a diversified repertoire of linguistic and cultural resources becomes a tool for interacting with others, even when ‘the other’ belongs to very distant cultural and geographical contexts. In fact, by studying different languages, a pupil learns to recognize the existence of different linguistic and cultural systems and expe-riences the variety of means that every language has to think, speak, communicate, and convey emotions14_.

14 _L._{Sercu, The foreign language and intercultural competence teacher: The acquisition of a new professional}

identity, in «Intercultural education», 17(1), 2006, pp. 55-72; C. Garrido, I. Álvarez, Language teacher education for intercultural understanding, in: «European Journal of Teacher Education», 29(2), 2006, pp.

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2. Horizontality and verticality of teaching and learning EFL. To make sure that learning becomes a highly educational activity, to the extent it contributes to person’s growth and development considering the local and global context in which the pupil is entered, it is necessary that teaching EFL is not an episodic, fragmented event, discon-nected from the rest of the curriculum. However, it is essential that it be designed by identifying horizontal connections with other subjects and developing the vertical pro-gression of knowledge and competences needed to pass from one order of schooling to another. The horizontality and verticality of the English curriculum must also be read in the perspective of building a synergistic connection between the formal learning, that a pupil acquires in school and non-formal and informal learning, with which s/he comes in contact in everyday life. As regards the English language, this transversal dimension, which links the life contexts and a child’s learning, is very strong. In fact, the daily inte-ractions, with linguistic expressions, terms, phrases, and idioms in English, conveyed mostly by mass media and the internet, are absolutely familiar, even unconsciously, because they already belong to its linguistic heritage. All this does not represent a lin-guistic shock for the child, i.e., a refusal of everything that he does not understand fully of and about the new language. The habit of using words borrowed from other languages assumes an absolute naturalness and spontaneity, so they are not perceived as ‘strange’ because they are related to the common lexicon used in activities, situations, and forms of interaction that are constantly present in everyday life15_.

3. Interdisciplinary connections and ‘new humanism’. It is important to provide com-mon design spaces between English and other subjects16_{, implementing the concept of a}

‘new humanism’ present in the National Curriculum Guidelines. It means that school is called to make pupil able to recognize the relationships between his personal microco-sm and the macrocomicroco-sm of humanity and the planet, because what happens in the world affects everyone’s life and, at the same time, every person is responsible for the future of humanity17_{. To educate children to this awareness and responsibility, it is necessary to}

have a large store of knowledge, which, however, does not coincide with the accumula-tion of lots of informaaccumula-tion in many areas. Rather it requires full mastery of individual subjects and, simultaneously, the ability to process multiple connections at an interdisci-plinary level. Common curriculum design can become an area of intervention aimed not only at language development but also at cognitive development and the construction of transversal competences such bridging, as Feuerstain18_{says. In this sense, it}

stimula-tes the reticular thought development through which the child uses knowledge learned in different contexts and subjects to structure and solve problems. It no longer operates within single subjects but in a broader perspective of learning to learn.

4. Build relationships between the mother language and EFL. Referring to the rela-tionship between English and the mother language, special care must be given (from the

15 _B._{Tomlinson, Materials development in language teaching, Cambridge (UK), Cambridge University Press,}

2011.

16 _{P. Gibbons, Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning: Teaching second language learners in the mainstream}

classroom, Portsmouth (NH), Heinemann, 2002.

17 _{MIUR, Indicazioni Nazionali per il curricolo della scuola dell’infanzia e del primo ciclo}_{, cit., p. 11.}

18 _{R. Feuerstein, M. B. Hoffman, Teacher’s guides to the Feuerstein instrumental enrichment Drogram,} Washington, DC, Curriculum Development Associates Inc., 1988.

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early grades) to phonological peculiarities and pronunciation differences, so as not to generate difficulties in understanding and speaking. In this regard, it is appropriate for the teacher to stimulate the child’s ability to take control of multiple pronunciation and intonation patterns to activate as naturally as possible a multilingual system19_.

5. Methodologies for teaching EFL: the use of a communicative approach. From a methodological point of view, a communicative approach to language learning has to be encouraged, considering the different coding systems of phonemes into graphemes exi-sting between English and Italian. The use of spoken language has to be introduced by the teacher systematically, proceeding gradually according to the complexity of the lan-guage structures presented. On the other hand, speaking English has to become a natu-ral activity for the child, preferably integrated with the use of creative and interactive games that can be supported by other non-verbal languages (music, movement, images, etc.) to promote participation and involvement in cooperative learning activities20_{. At a}

primary school level, a grammatical approach to learning English is not recommended. In addition to compromising a child’s learning motivation, it may generate confusion between different grammatical and syntactical systems21_{. In fact, the National}

Curricu-lum Guidelines consider grammar knowledge to be a task reserved for lower secondary school where pupils can gradually recognize, rework, and internalize the modes of com-munication and rules of a foreign language as they are able to understand much more easily the way of the new language functions. It is important instead to promote a gra-dual integration of the elements of the new language into the native language system (or any other language spoken by the pupil) expanding implicitly the ability to manage various language components (phonetic, phonological, syntactic and semantic aspects)22_.

6. Gradual development of writing competences. Special attention has to be paid to writing, correlated to the increasing importance given to oral language,. This should be presented gradually and preferably from the third grade onwards. Initially, writing will be limited to keywords to be included in conceptual maps and diagrams, simple expres-sions related to a child’s experiences culminating with brief descriptions and presenta-tions at the end of the fifth grade. Among the multiple language competences to be pur-sued, writing definitely has the lowest priority in primary school, also in consideration of any specific learning difficulties (e.g.,dyslexia, dysgraphia, dysorthography) that usually emerge in this type of school and that, in some way, may also be increased in the mother tongue by an approach to English that is too centered on writing23_.

7. Teaching EFL, ICT and international learning experiences. Right from primary school, it is recommended teaching methodologies be accompanied by the active and

19 _M._{Celce-Murcia, L. McIntosh, Teaching English as a second or foreign language, Boston (MA), Heinle &}

Heinle, 1991; E. Guerin, Developing Phonological Awareness for English Language Learning in Infant and

Primary School, in D. Capperucci, E. Guerin (eds.), Innovative European Approaches for In-service and Pre-service English Language Teachers in Primary Education, Pisa, ETS, 2017, pp. 301-333.

20 _{J. K. Shin, Ten helpful ideas for teaching English to young learners, in «English Teaching Forum», 44(2),}

2006, pp. 2-13.

21 _{A. L.}_{Herrell, M. L. Jordan, 50 strategies for teaching English language learners, Boston, Pearson, 2015.}

22 _{P. H. Hiep, Communicative language teaching: Unity within diversity, in «ELT Journal», 61(3), 2007, pp.}

193-201.

23 _A._{Applebee, Alternative models of writing development, in «Perspectives on writing research, theory, and}

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participatory use of ICT (computers, tablets, white interactive boards, interactive tables, educational software, etc.) that, in many cases, are often used by children at home. These can be useful to expand the space and time for learning, creating contact opportunities even outside of school, and promote informal social interactions between individuals, school groups and local communities24_{. In this regard, it is very important for the school}

to participate in European projects such as Comuenius, Erasmus+, E-twinning, etc. that may facilitate the exchange and interaction with schools and pupils from other countri-es, joining activities and partnerships where English is used as a lingua franca, a langua-ge for communicating with everybody. Doing so, pupils can move step by step from an interaction centered essentially on their own needs to a communication oriented towards other stakeholders, peers, and adults, experiencing cultural differences and similarities, personal habits, and traditions of other countries as well as beginning to develop an intercultural sensitivity25_.

8. Reflection on language and self-assessment of EFL learning. Only in rare cases, and especially with pupils who have a high level of competence, or in cases where the children themselves highlight specific linguistic aspects regarding language conventions and linguistic rules, syntactic structures, similarities and differences between Italian and English will the teacher deal cautiously and gradually with simple aspects of linguistic reflection26_{(Byram, 2008). Such activities, in a certain way, may also be used to enhance}

the ability of self-assessment and awareness of how pupils learn, na ability that is impor-tant to develop in all pupils beginning in primary school27_.

3.2 EFL curriculum organization

According to the guiding criteria mentioned in the previous section, EFL curriculum design must be focused on the achievement of specific results broken down in terms of knowledge, abilities, and competences. In line with the structure of the National Curri-culum Guidelines28_{, the competences to be pursued are reported primarily in the Student}

Proﬁle (PS) and then in the Outcomes for Competence Development (OCD); knowledge and abilities of each subject instead are expressed by Learning Objectives (LO).

The Student Proﬁle describes, in basic form, the general competences related to all teaching subjects as well as to those linked to citizenship education that a pupil should possess at the end of the first cycle of education, which, in the Italian school system, ends with the lower secondary school (at the age of 14). Recently, the Ministry of Education

24 _{K. E. Holbert, G. G. Karady, Strategies, challenges and prospects for active learning in the computer-based}

classroom, in «Education, IEEE Transactions on», 52(1), 2009, pp. 31-38; S. Mumtaz, Factors affecting teachers’ use of information and communications technology: a review of the literature, in «Journal of information

technology for teacher education», 9(3), 2000, pp. 319-342.

25 _C._{Lankshear, M. Knobel, New technologies in early childhood literacy research: A review of research, in}

«Journal of Early Childhood Literacy», 3(1), 2003, pp. 59-82.

26 _M._{Byram, From foreign language education to education for intercultural citizenship: Essays and reflections,}

in «Multilingual Matters», Vol. 17, 2008.

27 _D._{Little, The Common European Framework and the European Language Portfolio: Involving learners and}

their judgements in the assessment process, in «Language Testing», 22(3), 2005, pp. 321-336; Y. G. Butler, J. Lee, The effects of self-assessment among young learners of English, in «Language Testing, 27(1), 2010, pp. 5-31. 28 _{MIUR, op.}_cit.

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Act no. 742/2017 regarding the certification of achievements has provided an intermedia-te level of the student proﬁle compeintermedia-tences at the end of primary school, thus highlighting the extent to which those competences have to be developed into an eight-year period of education (Table 2).

Table 2 – Student profile competence indicators related to EFL teaching

The Outcomes for Competence Development are prescriptive and common to all private and state schools in the Italian education system. They are provided at the end of the fifth grade of primary school and constitute unavoidable references for teachers, insofar they indicate the cultural and educational paths to be followed and help to fina-lize instructional action towards a pupil’s integral development. In the first cycle scho-ols (primary and lower secondary schoscho-ols) the outcomes represent criteria for assessing the expected competences. In addition, schools must work to ensure that every pupil can achieve them so as to guarantee the unity of the national system and quality of service. They correspond to the A1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL) (Table 3).

Table 3 – Outcomes for competence development at the end of primary school

The Learning Objectives represent the functional knowledge and abilities to achieve the Outcomes for Competence Development. They are not prescriptive, so those proposed in the National Curriculum Guidelines can be taken as they are or adapted by each scho-ol according to its own specific instructional offer and its pupils’ needs. They are provi-ded at the end of third and fifth grade of primary school (Table 4)29_.

29 _{D. Capperucci, C. Cartei, Curricolo e intercultura. Problemi, metodi e strumenti, Milano, FrancoAngeli,} 2010.

11 Type of school Student profile competence indicators

Primary school The pupil is able to express himself in English at an elementary level and to communicate in a fundamental way in simple everyday situations.

Lower secondary

school Meeting people of different nationalities, the pupil is able to express himself in English at an elementary level and to communicate in a fundamental way in simple everyday situations, using a second European language. S/he uses English language to work with information and communication technologies.

13 The pupil comprehends oral and written messages related to familiar areas.

The pupil describes orally and in written form aspects of life, the context where he lives, matters related to immediate needs.

The pupil plays an active role in group games, communicates in an understandable way, even using pre-structured phrases and sentences, in simple and routine information exchanges.

The pupil performs tasks following the instructions given by the teacher in a foreign language, ask questions and ask for explanations.

The pupil identifies some cultural elements and understands relationships between linguistic forms and foreign language uses.

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Table 4 – Learning objectives at the end of the third and fifth grades of a primary school

4. The Competence Unit Design Model (CUD Mod.)

As evidenced in previous pages, competence curriculum construction in the Italian school system is based on the achievement of the Outcomes for Competence Development, that have to represent a constant point of reference for a teacher’s work. The unity and progression of the curriculum depends on the degree of consistency, reciprocity, and gra-dualness of these ‘Outcomes’, which, on the one hand, characterize the pupils’ instructio-nal path, and on the other, orient the teachers’ design towards the specific learning stan-dards to be reached. In this sense, the ‘Outcomes’ can be read as an analytical framework of competences to be promoted. Their achievement is entrusted to the daily work that tea-chers do with their pupils, which requires design tools oriented toward iskilled and speci-fic interventions, according to the general training plan defined by the school.

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Learning objectives at the end of third grade

Listening

(oral comprehension) Understand words, commands, expressions and everyday phrases, spoken clearly and slowly referring to the pupil, his classmates, and the family.

Speaking (oral production and

interaction)

Produce meaningful sentences concerning objects, places, people, and known situations.

Interact with a classmate to introduce himself and/or play, using structured phrases and sentences appropriate to the situation.

Reading

(written comprehension) Understand postcards, cards, and short messages, preferably accompanied by visual or sound recordings, understanding words and phrases already known at an oral level.

Writing

(written production) Write words and simple phrases related to everyday classroom activities and personal group interests.

Learning objectives at the end of fifth grade

Listening

(oral comprehension) Understand short dialogues, instructions, everyday phrases, and sentences when pronounced clearly and identify the general theme of conversation on familiar topics.

Understand short multimedia texts by identifying keywords and the general meaning.

Speaking (oral production and

interaction)

Describe people, places, and familiar objects using common words and phrases already encountered in listening and/or reading activities. Report simple information related to the personal sphere, integrating the meaning of what is said with mime and gestures.

Interact in an understandable way with a classmate or an adult who is familiar, using phrases and sentences appropriate to the situation.

Reading

(written comprehension) Read and understand short, simple texts, preferably accompanied by visual aids, taking their overall meaning and identify words and familiar phrases.

Writing

(written production) Write in an understandable way short and simple messages to introduce himself, to wish, thank or invite someone, to ask or give information, etc.

Reflection on the language

and learning Analyse pairs of similar words for sound and understand their meaning. Analyse words and expressions in their context of use and grasp the relations among the different meanings.

Analyse the sentence structure, putting language constructs and communicative intentions into relation.

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The next section presents an instructional design model, called the Competence Unit Design Model (CUD Mod.), aimed at competence development and centered on a spe-cific tool called a ‘competence unit’. three action-research projects are presented here, which were carried out with in-service teachers and students of the Degree Course in Primary Education at the University of Florence, where the model was tested.

4.1 Designing for Competence Units

‘Competence units’ represent units of work centered on a unitary instructional path, concluded itself, but, at the same time, are open to subsequent developments. It is aimed at a competence acquisition that can be recognized and certified.

The same expression, ‘competence units’, says that a competence cannot be acquired once and for all, to the extent that it always provides possible margins for improvement. Each competence is both an end-product referring to a specific class or age group. However, it is also a starting point for subsequent acquisitions of greater difficulty. The ‘unit’ concept is connected to an idea of ‘competence’, considered as a complex tool that requires a constructi-ve path to be acquired gradually with all the necessary adjustments and modifications. Com-petence is characterized in terms of meaningful, authentic, and progressive learning, which is always situated, because it is the result of the interaction existing between an individual’s capacities and the resources of the context30_{. Competence can therefore be seen as a}

long-term achievement that requires different and growing levels of mastery, reachable through specific work units that have their own autonomy, sequentiality, and interconnectivity31_.

At the end of a competence unit, at least in the school context, it is hardly able to cer-tify the achievement of a competence as a whole,. Instead, it is possible to cercer-tify a significant part of it, one of its components, a particular aspect that guarantees the degree developed of the competence to which it refers. Structuring a teacher’s instructional design for competence units facilitates the transition between the different stages of the school system through the construction of a vertical, progressive, and unified curriculum. In this sense, the curriculum becomes the means through which experience educational continuity and competences beco-me sobeco-mething that may be capitalized and used in many contexts and situations.

Competence units present some unique characteristics, which can be summarized as follows: 1. Systematicity. Sharing the same instructional design model and common planning tools for all school classes (see Table 5).

2. Self-consistency. Each unit anticipates the achievement of specific competences (related to citizenship or to school subjects) that can be used in educational, professional, and social contexts.

3. Modularity. Each competence unit can be joined to others with which to share logical, experiential, operational, and content connections. In this sense, a competence unit can also be read as part of a wider instructional path, which accounts for the com-petence progression and the need to proceed gradually.

30 _{J. S. Brown, A. Collins, P. Duguid, Situated cognition and the culture of learning, in H. McLellan (ed.),} Situated learning perspectives, Englewood Cliffs (NJ), Educational Technology Publications, 1996.

31 _{M. Pellerey, Le competenze. Il ruolo delle competenze nei processi educativi scolastici e formativi, Napoli,} Tecnodid 2010; G. Le Boterf, Construire les competences individuelles et collectives, Paris, Éditions d’Organisation, 2000.

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4. Authenticity. To assess competence, authentic tasks (or reality tasks applied to a situation) able to verify whether and to what extent pupil can mobilize its knowledge and problem solving skills are preferred to be used.

5. Interdisciplinarity. Competence units can encourage interdisciplinary teaching, even though they also pay attention to the promotion of knowledge and skills related to specific subjects. The interdisciplinary approach begins by sharing a common project/ problem and promoting interaction between different kinds of knowledge and involving the pupils from the perspective of research and discovery.

6. Personalization. Competence units are work units used for learning personaliza-tion to the extent that they can provide differentiated instrucpersonaliza-tional intervenpersonaliza-tions and activities for each individual pupil, small groups, and the whole class.

7. Signiﬁcance. Competence units must focus on achieving significant learning. Lear-ning is significant not only when it can be employed more or less widely, but because the child feels it is important for him personally. It is the result of participation and com-mitment, of being active in searching for answers, or problem solving. It is this personal connotation that makes learning lasting and meaningful over time. Ausubel32_{(1963). In}

fact, says that we can recognize significant learning when the new content becomes part of the knowledge already possessed by the individual, enlarging his learning.

8. Metacognition. Thanks to competence units, pupils strengthen their self-reflexivity concerning the cognitive and learning processes ordinarily used and developing greater awareness as regards the way of their mind functions. All this gradually allows children to understand and self-guide their own learning processes, recognizing strengths and weaknesses, and empowering the competence of learning to learn.

9. Transferability. The acquired and certified competences can be used within the school system for further studies and outside of school in vocational education courses or the labor market. They represent a pre-condition for more complex and articulated lear-ning and qualifications.

10. Capitalization. This latter criterion refers to the ability of a competence unit to determine, at the end of some purposely designed instructional activities, what the learning outputs are, once certified, can be optimized and recognized in multiple contexts: school, university, training, work, and daily life experiences.

Designing competence units, like any other designing action, is a rational act aimed at achieving specific objectives. Moreover, it is a process that can be articulated into different phases. We can, in fact, provide a pre-active, active, and post-active phase, referring, respec-tively, to the activities that teachers should put into practice before, during, and after any instructional intervention.

Pre-active phase. This step precedes the execution of instructional interventions and refers to two main design processes: 1. recognition of the competence to be developed and the definition of different levels of mastery in relation to which the identified com-petence has to be verified; 2. planning of the path to be followed, which is braodly defi-ned at this stage. At this phase, teachers are committed to: a) the definition of competen-ce descriptors, in selecting learning objectives (knowledge and abilities) and in choosing

32 _{D. G. Ausubel, Cognitive Structure and the Facilitation of Meaningful Verbal Learning1, in «Journal of}

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assessment tests and evaluation criteria; and b) in construction of tools able to detect a pupil’s incoming knowledge and competences as well as their needs, interests, and moti-vation to learn, the identification of authentic tasks, and the choice of content33_.

Active phase. It starts with the use of the tools for recognizing incoming knowledge developed in the previous phase. It is characterized by instructional mediation that takes place at several levels: 1. between the previously defined core competence curriculum and its adherence to a pupil’s needs; 2. between the initial learning path designed by the tea-cher and the interest manifested by the pupils. The concrete completion of a competence unit actually starts from this point forward. In fact, it has to deal with the plurality of situations and subjects that are present in a school. A competence unit does not entail recourse to a specific methodology, but requires the use of multiple techniques and tea-ching strategies depending on the competence to be promoted34_.

Post-active phase. It is characterized by being a reflexive moment, following the instructional intervention and implementation of the competence unit, which involves both pupil and teacher. As for the pupil, he is invited – under teacher’s guidance – to do a sort of flashback on the work done and the steps that have led to its completion, with the aim of identifying possible strengths and weaknesses. This can be accomplished by helping a pupil ask what kind of knowledge he believes himself able to manage now and how it might be used to solve tasks, what are the methods of knowledge organization that he habitually uses (conceptual maps, summaries, diagrams, schemes, notes, charts, etc.), and recall the use of various self-assessment systems (rubrics, diaries, portfolios, etc.). As for the teacher, after the implementation of a competence unit, he can critically evaluate the instructional effectiveness of what has been done, by verifying the relevance of the identified competence and its articulation in descriptors and mastery levels, the degree of homogeneity and integration between competences and learning objectives, and the adequacy of the tasks, time, space, tools, and assessment tools35_.

This cyclical review process on which the design of the competence unit is based provides constant re-examination from the perspective of continuous improvement and of raising the quality of interventions aimed at competence acquisition.

4.2. Testing the CUD Model in teaching EFL

The Competence Unit Design Model (CUD Mod.) presented in the following pages was originally tested in a pilot project conducted by the University of Florence and the Regional School Office of Tuscany, in 2010-2012, as a result of the Training Programme for National Guidelines Experimentation (2007), promoted by the Ministry of Education. Thanks to the pilot project, 40 school networks were set up in Tuscany. These networ-ks were made up of Tuscan schools from the first cycle of schooling, corresponding to almost all the primary and lower secondary schools in the region.

33 _D._{Capperucci, Strumenti per la costruzione del curricolo, in «Studi sulla Formazione» 19(2), 2016, pp. 143-170.}

34 _{A. Lopes, R. Ruiz-Cecilia (eds.), New Trends in Foreign Language Teaching: Methods, Evaluation and} Innovation, Newcastle upon Tyne (UK), Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018.

35 _{D. Tsagari (ed.), Classroom-based Assessment in L2 Contexts, Newcastle upon Tyne (UK), Cambridge} Scholars Press, 2016; D. Tsagari, J. Banerjee (eds.), Handbook of Second Language Assessment, Berlin & New York, Muton De Gruyter, 2016.

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Articoli Studi sulla Formazione, 2019-1

Davide Capperucci

The goal of the project was to build and validate, working together with the schools, a common methodological model for competence curriculum design that focused on a shared tool such as the competence unit. To achieve this purpose, 54 workshops, coor-dinated by a tutor, were launched with the commitment to construct vertical curriculum segments on all subjects, including also EFL. According to proposals from the majori-ty of schools, particular attention was given to ‘bridge-years’ that, in the Italian school system, are: 1. the last grade of kindergarten (5 years old)/first grade of primary school (6 years old); 2. the last grade of primary school (11 years old)/the first grade of lower secondary school (14 years old). Each laboratory was attended by at least 9 teachers, with the duration of the action-research activities being 20 hours.

The competence unit model developed thanks to the pilot project, with some little changes, were further applied to other two projects. An early project was carried out in a collaboration between the University of Florence and the Regional School Office of Tuscany, in the years 2012-2014, to disseminate the new 2012 edition of the Natio-nal Curriculum Guidelines. A sample of 35 Tuscan schools and about 1,510 in-service teachers was chosen to take part. A second project was carried out within the Degree Course in Primary Education of Florence, for the workshops in experimental pedagogy and theories and the methods of school design and evaluation. It was attended by appro-ximately 750 students from 2013 to 2015.

Below in Table 5, for example, the final version of the design model adopted in the last two projects is shown. In this case, it refers to an EFL competence unit in primary school.

Competence Unit Title: Hill’s home!!

School ….

Type of School Primary school

Grade Grade 5

Needs analysis Needs detected: strengthen oral communicative

competence related to everyday situations through linguistic forms which present simple lexical and syntactical structures.

Prerequisites: use of simple present, knowledge of

basic vocabulary related to family, house, and main everyday life actions.

Competence indicator taken from the Student Profile (SP)

(at the end of the fifth grade of Primary school, as anticipated by the Ministry of Education)

The pupil is able to express himself in English at an elementary level and to communicate in a fundamental way in simple everyday situations.

Outcome for Competence Development (OCD)

(taken from the National Guidance, 2012)

The pupil has an active role in group games, communicates in an understandable way, even using pre-structured phrases and sentences, in simple and routine exchanges of information.

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163

From Competence Curriculum Design to Assessment and Certification of Achievement

21 _LO Co nte nts Act iv ities M et ho ds Tool s Time LO Ass es sme nt O CD Ass es sme nt Un der stan d s ho rt dialo gu es, in str uctio ns , ev er yd ay p hr ases an d s en ten ce s wh en p ro no un ce d clea rly an d id en tif y th e ge ne ral th em e of a dis cu ss io n of fa m iliar to pics Welcome Hill’s home: everyday life of an English family Warm-up activities, conducted by the teacher, using basic vocabulary related to: greetings, the house, family, pets, and parts of the day Tr an sm iss iv e/ Ded uctiv e Flashcards, audio recordings, drawings, text book, school materials 30

min. TPR activities relevant to everyday actions previously dealt with in listening activities Corresponden ce tests between the everyday actions addressed and their representation through drawings, flash cards, etc. Preparation of authentic tasks: 1) Role-play in which pupils simulate a meeting between the Hill and Rossi families. 2) Dialogue analysis among the various characters played by pupils. Identification through grids for systematic observation of a piece of information and consistency ; b. quality of interaction; c. activities selected by pupils; d. vocabulary. Listening to simple words pronounced by the teacher and their association with drawings or flash cards made available by the teacher and/or present in the classroom 30 min. Listening and miming of actions related to daily life proposed by the teacher 30

min. Miming games related to everyday life situations and actions from previously listenings Audio listening played by the teacher in which the Hill family is presented during an ordinary day Tr an sm iss iv e/ Ded uctiv e Audio

recording min. 30 Graphic representation of the characters and actions presented through audio recordings Listening to simple dialogues between members of the Hill family played by the teacher Audio

recording min. 30 Dialogue comprehensio n questionnaire with T/F and multiple choice answers

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22 Collective

reconstruction of the Hill family’s typical day through graphic sequences combined with short narrative descriptions. Ex per ien tial/ Induc tive Drawings and school materials 3 hrs Reconstructio n of a short story by sequences and identification of correspondenc es between each sequence and its written description

3) Matching activity between the parts of the day and the Hill family’s activities (as presented in the videos and audio recordings, etc.); construction and play of simple dialogues between two or three characters. 4) Give some scenes of the Hill family’s everyday life, build simple descriptions and oral conversations Un der stan d s ho rt m ultime dia tex ts b y id en tif yin g key wo rd s an d th e g en er al sen se Video watching in which the Hill family’s habits are compared with those of the Rossi family living in Florence Revision of vocabulary and linguistic expressions presented in the video Tr an sm iss iv e/De du ctiv e Video

recording 2 hrs Video watching and submission of a questionnaire on the video’s contents with T/F and multiple choice answers olus charts to fill in Construction of a double-entry table that compares similar and different habits referring to the two families Ex per ien tial/In du ctiv e School materials hour 1 Graphic representation of the information contained in the double-entry table 1 hour Descr ib e p eo ple, place s an d f am iliar ob jects us in g c om m on w or ds an d p hr ases alr ea dy en co un ter ed in lis ten in g an d/o r rea din g ac tiv ities Presentation proposed by the teacher of a predetermined model for characters’ description _Transm iss iv e/De du ctiv e Material provided by the teacher 30

min. Oral description in small groups of a character chosen by the pupil

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23 Do pair exercises

using the model provided by the teacher aimed at describing the Hill family’s characters, highlighting both physical and personality traits Co op er ativ e lear nin g 1

hour Oral description tests referring to people, places and familiar objects starting from watching videos, drawings, flash cards, etc. 5) Use of puppets made by the children to represent short scenes of a play related to the meeting between the Hill and Rossi families Guessing Game 1: one pupil describes one of the Hill family’s members, using gestures and other media (drawings, objects, etc.) for the class-mate to guess Guessing Game 2: give only an oral description of one Hill’s family character School materials, flash cards, drawings, guessing games 2 hrs Answers to oral questions asked by the teacher involving the use of vocabulary addressed in previous educational activities Collective oral description of the Hill family’s home through flash cards and drawings Ex per ien tial/b y d isco ver y School materials, flash cards, drawings, material provided by the teacher 30 min. Description of the main similarities and differences between the Hill’s and the Rossi’s family habits

1 hour

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166 Davide Capperucci Rep or t simp le in fo rm atio n r el ated to th e pe rs on al sp her e, in teg ratin g th e m ea nin g o f w hat is s aid with m im e an d g estu res. Recalling greeting forms and imitation by the teacher of actions related to everyday life (wake up, have breakfast, go to school/work, ride a bike, play computer/video games, use tablet, read, cooking, sleep, etc.)

Pupils mime the actions presented by the teacher Tr an sm iss iv e/De du ctiv e/ Ex per ien tial Mime

games hour 1 Filling-in exercises, grids regarding the content addressed in previous activities Correction exercises related to incorrect or missing information concerning the contents addressed in previous activities Role-play in which pupils mime one of the Hill family’s members in turn and reproduce the actions and personal qualities heard into the presentation Co op er ativ e lear nin g Audio recordings Role play 2 hrs Collective conversation in which the teacher asks questions about the Hill family’s habits Questions Action images 30 min. In ter ac t in an u nd er stan dab le way with a class m ate or an ad ult wh o is fam iliar , u sin g p hr ases an d s en ten ce s ap pr op riate to th e s itu atio n Dialogue simulation between the parents and children of the Hill family regarding a specific ordinary activity (lunch, going to school, back from work, visiting friends, watching TV, sport, etc.) Co op er ativ e lear nin g Simulation

games hour 1 Observation grids prepared by the teacher on the linguistic interactions which take place during the group work Simple dialogues in pairs Group game under teacher’s supervision: one group asks questions and the other responds according to the clues provided

Group games hour 1

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25 Group design of

wall drawings about the Hill family and creation of a puppet for each character

School materials,

cloth 2 hrs

Interdisciplinary links with other subjects of the National Curriculum

Guidelines, 2012

- Italian - Art - Music

Links with the basic competences provided at the end of compulsory education

- Use of a foreign language for functional and communicative purposes.

Links with the key competences for citizenship provided at the

end of compulsory education

- Communicating

- Cooperating and participating - Being independent and responsible - Acquiring and interpreting information Table 5 – CUD Mod. grid referring to an EFL competence unit in a primary school

Beyond the numerous competence units produced, which represent the most signifi-cant result of the projects mentioned above, the action-research carried out reached the objective of keeping up the discussion on curriculum construction among teachers and increasing the good practices exchange among practitioners, because (even) from these things related to instructional methodologies depend on school quality of education and pupils’ learning success.

5. From EFL curriculum development to assessment and certification of achievement Parallel to the development of the European and national policies on foreign langua-ge learning and teaching, pedagogical reflection on these themes has devoted increasing attention to curriculum issues as well as to effectively assessing and certifying foreign language learning36_{. This requires a specific expertise upstream in teachers in the area of}

assessment, which must be treated carefully and with methodological rigour. This sec-tion focuses specifically on EFL-teacher development in the assessment and certificasec-tion of competences37_.

One common characteristic of the latest educational system reforms in the majori-ty of European countries has been the attempt to redefine the purpose of education in

36 _{J. C. Richards, T. S. Rodgers, Approaches and methods in language teaching, Cambridge (UK), Cambridge}

University Press, 2014.

37 _{M. Kelly, M. Grenfell, R. Allan, C. Kriza, W. McEvoy, European proﬁle for language teacher education: A}

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the perspective of competences. The initial input that led to the passage from ‘funda-mental knowledge’ to the development of key disciplinary and citizenship competences was introduced first with the 2000 Lisbon Strategy and more recently with the Europe 2020 strategy38_{. Both of these measures recognize the centrality of the ‘competence}

con-struct’ as an element of innovation in education which can combat school dropout rates and develop higher levels of competitiveness, employability, and social inclusion within the member countries. This ‘turn’ from knowledge to competences marks a very delica-te transition for a school sysdelica-tem, since it sets new purposes for education moving from the knowledge that everyone must solidly possess to the capacity to apply the acquired knowledge and skills to problem-solving in known and unknown situations. Competen-ces were a sort of ‘tsunami’, at least for Italy, given the ‘disruptive’ way they entered the school system, without adequate teacher preparation to deal with such a radical change.

From the instructional design point of view, competences require rewriting the esta-blished practices, which have focused on content transmission. In terms of learning asses-sment, the change appears even greater, putting forth new questions on the methodolo-gies and tools to be used in the assessment of results and the certification of achievement.

Today’s attention on competences has developed over time so as to offer a more complete definition of what was initially provided by behaviourist theories. In the case of behaviourism, competence is associated with the concept of performance. Based on the paradigm of technical rationality, competence is simplified into a series of empirical-ly observable and measurable performances, whose sum demonstrates the mastery level achieved by the individual. Subsequently, thanks to the contribution of cognitivist and constructivist learning theories, thought on competences has shifted towards less reduc-tionist approaches that consider the totality of the person and the intersection of multi-ple planes such as the cognitive, socio-emotional, and relational domains39_.

Even Perrenoud40 _{claims that competence is something more than just a pattern of}

action, which cannot be reduced to the simple repetition of previously acquired patterns. Indeed, it orchestrates a set of different components. A pattern consists in the underlying action or the single operation, while a competence implements schemes of perception, thinking, evaluation, and action that underlie the inferences, anticipations, transpositions, generalizations, estimation of the probability, the start of a diagnostic search from a set of clues, the search for information of a different nature, and the construction of a decision.

To evaluate such a rich and multifaceted form of learning, we should also rethink the assessment methods and tools designed to measure knowledge. Indeed, they do not always seem to be reliable or adequate for detecting situated behaviours that go beyond the memory of notional information. Hence, the need to develop new theoretical and epistemological assessment models, based on the evidence of empirical research and which can also contribute to developing new interpretive criteria and tools to be used in teaching.

38 _{F. H.}_Soriano,_F._{Mulatero, Knowledge policy in the EU: From the Lisbon strategy to Europe 2020, in «Journal}

of the Knowledge Economy» 1(4), 2010, pp. 289-302.

39 _{D. A.}_{Schön, Educating the reflective practitioner, San Francisco (CA), Jossey-Bass, 1987.}

40 _P._Perrenoud_{, Dix nouvelles compétences pour enseigner, Paris, ESF éditeur, 1999; Id.,}_{Développer la pratique}